Machine for feeding and coating metal sheets



v I 1,638,398 Aug. 9,1927. HERMAN, v

MACHINE FOR FE IEDING AND COATING METAL SHEETS- Filed July 24. 192: s sheets-sheet 1 INVENTOR Ma M ATTORNEYS H. HERMAN] MACHINE FOR FEEDING AND COATII ING METAL SHEETS Aug. 9, 1927. 1,638,398

Filed July 24, 1923 3 Shuts-Sheet 2 27 H. HERMAN! MKCEINE FOR FEEDING AND COATING METAL SHEETS Filed July 24, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 A I INVENTOR X m, MW"

Patented Aug. 9, 1927,

UNITED en rnwrorncs.

nnnnrn'nnmzmr, or IBALYIYIMOFBIE, nnnYLn'Nn, Ass-ram To -'rn'n 'TInfDEooRATING' ooMPANY OF BALTIMORE, or BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

MACHINE 'r'on rnnnine Ann 'ooA'rIne METAL snn'n'r's.

Application flied July 24, 1923. Serial no. 653,494.

My invention relates to mechanism for coating sheets or flat blanks, and es ecially to mechanism adapted for spot varnishing metal sheets, and for accurately registering and feeding such sheets to the varnishing 'mechanism, although the invention in its broader aspect is not necessarily limited to such specific uses;

The words spot varnishing as used herein, indicate the coating of a metal sheet with varnish on spaced rectangular areas, the spaces between the varnished areas bei'ng le'ft free of i' arnish sothat when the large sheet is cut up to form individual blanks, unvarnished margins are left, which caneasily be soldered in forming the individual blanks into can bodies with lock seam joints, the varnish th'en'covering the entire inner sur- 'face 'of the can to protect the metal fromfthe can contents The invention is not, however, in its broader aspect, necessarily limited to spot varnishing, since in some cases the metal sheets might be varnished or otherwise coated all over. j l

An im ortant object of the invention is to provide, in connection with suitable spot varnishing or similar mechanism, including a printing or coating roll and an abutment roll, simple, durable and inexpensive mechanism for registeringfor properly aligning the metal sheets andth'en gripping'and advancing them in proper relation to the printing roll. While provision may be made in some cases for automatically feeding the sheets to the registering mechanism, su-eh an entirely automatiefeed is not essential, and

in the present'specific embodiment of the invention in, mechanism of very simple form, the sheets are fed by hand to the registering mechanism and are then advanced automatically to and past the varnishing roll.

The characteristics and advantages of the invention are further sufiiciently explained in connection with the following detail de: scription of the accompanying drawings, which show one representative embodiment of the invention. After studying this embodiment, I persons skilled in the art will understand that many yariationsmay be made within the principles at the invention, 7

and I contemplate the employment of any structures that are properly within the scope of the appended claim.

of the machine.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine embedyi'ng the inventionin one form.

Figure '2 is an enlarged elevation showing the principal parts of the mechanism.

F1g1'1re 3 is 'a vertical longitudinal section. Figure '4 is 'a front elevation of one side Figure 5 is a fiat development of-one suit able farm of varnishing roll, v

Figure 6 is a detail in end elevation of Suitable cams 'for operating the stops and movable feed roll.

Figure 7 'is a sectional detail of the same. A suitable frame 1 supports the varnishing roll 2, which niayotherwise be identified as a coating roll. This roll may have almost any desired impression surface, but in a particular machine, designed especially for spot varnishing metal sheets, for the purpose previously mentioned, the roll may consist of a "metal body in which are inserted and shitably's'e'cured, raised printing surfaces 3 of rectangular outline, as best shown in the fiat development Figure 5. These printing surfaces are arranged to leave spaces 4: between them, which, of course, will not receive varnish from the varnish-feed roll, and the varnish pattern imprinted on the plates therefore consists of rectangular varnished areas with intermediate 'unvarni'shedspaces suitablefor the productionof can'blanks, the margi ns of [which may be readily soldered to produce lock seams. The printing surfaces 3 are usually formed upon blocks of rubber or rubber composition to provide a yielding printing surface.

The varnishing roll is carried on a shaft 6 mounted in bearin blocks 7 which are guided for vertical movement in vertical frame openings 8. The bearing blocks are supp'orted'by springs 9, and screws 10 are provided for moving the bearing blocks down to bring the printing surface of the roll in proper relation to the surface of an abutment roll 11 carried by a shaft 12 mounted in bearing blocks 13 guided for vertical movement in frame apertures 14. The abutment roll llmay be moved to and from active position by any convenient means, such as a toggle link actuated by a' crank arm 16 on a rock-shaft 17, which may be an- 1am with any swab-1e ever and it latch mechanism (net shows for rotating the shaft to advance the abutment roll 11 to normal position, as shown in Figure 1, or to retract it when desired. In the normal op eration of the machine the abutment roll 11 remains in active position to hold the sheets in contact with the printing surfaces of roll 2 as they are passed between the upper and lower rolls.

Varnish is supplied to the printing surfaces of roll 2 by a feet. roll 20, which is in contact with a doctor, or dipper roll 21. which. takes varnish from a shallow pan T he varnish may be supplied to pan 22 from time to time from tank 23 having a spout 2t and. valve 25. Suitable devices are pro vided for adjusting the feed roll and doctor roll, but details of varnish feed do not form a part of this invention and need not be further described.

Roll shaft 12 may be driven from any suitable source of power and a gear on shaft 12 engages with a gear 81 on shaft 6 to drive the printing and abutment rolls in the proper direction at the same peripheral speed.

A. table is provided on which the tin plates are placed successively for feeding to the registering and feed mechanism. This table is supported on frame brackets 36. The table terminates close to the contact line of annpper feed roll 37 and a lower feed roll 38; this contact line being in front of the contact line of the printing and abutment rolls. The lower feed roll is mounted on a shaft 40 located in fixed bearings. The upper feed roll is mounted on a shaft 41 which rotates in bearings in the ends of arms 42, which are secured to a rock shaft 43 having bearings inframe members 44. Roll shaft 40 has a gear 15 which is driven by an idler gear 46 mounted on a stub shaft 47, and engaging gear 30 above mentioned. Roll shaft 11 has a gear 18 engaging gear 15, and this gear-engagementis maintained during the moderate vertical movement of shaft 45.

Two orv more sheet-registering stops 50 are provided, these beingarranged as vertical portions of arms 51 connected to a rock shaft 52 mounted in hearings in frame members 14. Arms 51 and stops 50 are curved [to pass belowand to the rear of shaft 40,

and roll 38 is provided with annular slots or channels 52 to tICCOIDD'lOClZLtG the stop members. The stops and the movable feed roll 37 are operated by a bell-crank lever 55 pivoted at 56 and provided with a link 57 con nected to one of the arms 12 and a link 58 connected to a short arm 59 on rock shaft 52. The lever 55 also has a cam roller 60 engaging the periphery of a suitable cam, which preferably'is. a compound cam consisting of members 61 and 61 as best shown in Figurevt. Each of the cam members has a lobe 63. Oneof the cam members such as 61, may be fixed on shaft 6 and the other is rotatably adjustable about the hub 6 of cam 61. Cam body 61 is provided with are shaped slots 65, and screws 66 are inserted through these slots into threaded holes in cam member 61". By loosening the screws the cam member 61*; may be rotated to provide any suitable length of i 'ieripheral lobe surface to give the desired dwell of movable feed roll 37 and of stops 50 in ele vated position while a sheet is positioned against "the stops preliminary to its advance by the feed. rolls when the stops are retracted and the upper feed roll is dropped into contact'with the plate by the cam lobes 63 passing away from cam roller 60. Cam member 61 may be provided with two sets of holes 67 for screws 66 so that by placing the screws in the different holes, the amplitude of rotary adjustment of cam 62 may be as great as is ever necessary or desirable.

A spring 70, tensioned between a lever extension 71 and a point 72 on the frame, maintains roller 60 in contact with the cam.

The varnishing roll and its abutment roll are continuously rotated. At every rev0lu tion of shaft 6 the bell crank lever is actuated to retract the upper feed roll 37. At the samemoment stops 50 are elevated above the rear end of table 35. Cams 61 and 62 aresuitably adjusted with relation to the printing surfaces on roll 6 so that the movable feed roll is retracted and the stops are elevated at about the moment that a varnished sheet is passing away from the varnishing roll. The workman now pushes a fresh plate forward on thertable until its advance edge is in contact with the steps 50. The sheet is thus properly-aligned in parallelism to the roll shafts. The team lobes then pass away from cam roller 60, and spring 70 operates the bell crank lever 55 and links 57 and 58, causing the stops 50- to be retracted below the table level and below the metal sheet thereon, and at the same'tim e the upper feed roll drops upon the sheet and it is fed forward to the varnishing roll in properly registered and timed relation the cams being so adjusted that feed of the sheet commences at the proper moment to bring its advancing edge between the varnishing roll and the abutment roll in proper position for the proper imprinting of the sheet. The operations are then repeated indefinitely.

The described stop or registering and feeding mechanism while extremely simple in construction and economically. built, is very robust and enables metal sheets to be accurately registered and fed, producing a large output even when hand labor is employed for the initial placing and advano ing of the sheets to registered position against the stops.

I claim:

In a machine of the class described, a varnishing roll, an abutmentroll, shafts supporting the rolls co-operating gears 0n the shafts, a feed roll mounted on a fixed axis, a co-operating movable feed roll, a movable frame rotatably supporting the movable feed roll, gears connecting the feed rolls to rotate in unison With the varnishing and abutment rolls, stops carried by arms connected to move simultaneously and arranged .to be positioned in front of an advancing sheet at a point posterior to feed roll contact line,

position When the movable feed roll is re traeted and vice versa, and cam mechanism. on the varnishing roll shaft arranged to actuate the lever in definite relation to movement of varnishing surfaces of the roll.

Signed at Baltimore city in the State of Maryland this 21st day of July, A. D. 1928.

HENRY 'HER-MANI. 

